Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

Hyuga clan head's residence

Inside the training grounds built specifically for cultivation, Hyuga Tenyou, the former head of the Hyuga clan, sat cross-legged, watching his two eldest grandsons' monthly sparring matches.

Inside the arena, the current head of the family, Hyuga Hiten, nodded expressionlessly to his two sons.

"Hiashi, Hizashi, both of you come at me together."

"Yes, Father." *2
The two brothers glanced at their stern father with a hint of fear, then instinctively reached for their lower backs, a barely perceptible excitement etched on their tense faces.
"Ok?"

Upon seeing this action, Hyuga Hideaki frowned slightly.
The Hyuga clan is renowned for its Gentle Fist style, and the two brothers primarily received training in this family's secret techniques. To be obsessed with other unorthodox methods would only tarnish the Hyuga tradition.

"You two."

“Sun and Heaven”.

"Father?"

Turning to look at his father who had interrupted his reprimand, a faint hint of doubt appeared on Hyuga Hiten's cold face.

"Since it's a sparring session, don't be bound by the form."

Hinata Tenki stroked his snow-white goatee, looking quite interested.

In the past, when they sparred, these two kids were always very rigid and mechanical, lacking any independent will in their movements, acting like mere tools in boxing.
But this time was different; for the first time, he saw the word "fighting spirit" on his two grandsons' faces.

Although few in number, they are invaluable.

"Ok."

Since his father had spoken, Hyuga Hiten naturally obeyed, and nodded to the two brothers opposite him.

"Use whatever moves you have, but I'm telling you in advance, all attacks are futile against the Soft Fist."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and assumed a classic soft fist stance. Facing two young children, there was no need for him to even roll his eyes.

Hiashi and Hizashi exchanged a glance, nodded slightly, and the veins on the sides of their eyes bulged instantly.

"Please enlighten me, Father." *2
"Whoosh!"

Japanese athlete Hyuga made the first move, launching several shuriken from his hand, aiming for Hyuga Hiten's vitals from various angles.

That's it?

Even without activating his Byakugan, the trajectories of these shuriken were still discernible to Hyuga Hidetsu, and he shook his head in disappointment.
Huli is flashy.

He raised his palm and swung it forward, unleashing a visible gust of wind.

"Bang! Clang!"

A sharp clang rang out, and all the shuriken Hiashi had thrown fell to the ground.
"That's enough playing around."

"Whoosh~whoosh~whoosh~"

Before Hyuga Hiten could finish speaking, Hiashi raised his hand and threw out several more shuriken, their speed even surpassing that of the previous attack.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!~"

Once again, Hyuga Hidetsu blocked the shuriken with a blank expression, but his eyes had turned dangerous.

The eldest son, Hiashi, is the future head of the family. At such a prime age, instead of practicing the family's secret techniques, he's busy throwing shuriken.

Those teachers at the Ninja Academy are really misleading students; I'll definitely file a complaint against the school later!
"Hiashi, give me your teacher's contact information."

"It's not over yet, Father!"

Facing his father's slightly angry gaze, Hiashi, whose touch was getting increasingly hot, flashed a sharp glint in his eyes.
"Little Brother, cough!"

"Okay, Onii-chan!"

Hizashi, who had been itching to fight, immediately reached into his ninja tool pouch at his waist and pulled out a kunai upon hearing his older brother's call. The glint in his white eyes was no less than that of his brother Hiashi.
"This is."

Sensing that he was being locked onto by a sharp aura, Hyuga Hite frowned slightly in surprise.

"Mere acrobatics."

It's just throwing hidden weapons, right? He didn't believe these two kids could do anything fancy. In the entire Hidden Leaf Village, only the Uchiha clan treasured this skill.

"Shh!"

The next second, a kunai grazed past his ear, the sharp gust of wind severing several strands of his prized black hair.
So fast!

Hyuga Hite remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was experiencing a turbulent surge of emotions.
Admittedly, he was certain that if he activated his Byakugan, he could definitely detect the trajectory of this hidden weapon in advance.
But the one who threw the kunai wasn't an enemy of equal strength, but a child who hadn't even graduated from the ninja academy.
"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

Just as he was secretly surprised, a burst of crisp applause rang out from outside the arena. Hyuga Tenki nodded with an appreciative look, his gray eyes filled with satisfaction.
"Not bad pitching technique, Hizashi. You must have put in a lot of effort, right?"

"Grandpa, it'll only take about a month to practice."

Hyuga Hizashi was somewhat flattered, bowing slightly. The brothers rarely received praise from their elders, especially from him, the younger brother who was about to become a member of the branch family.
"You've reached this level in just a month or two?"

Hyuga Tenki narrowed his eyes, a faint look of shock flashing within them.

In terms of dynamic vision, he was slightly better than his son, thus capturing the strange trajectory and terrifying speed of the kunai.

He dared to say that if he hadn't seen with his own eyes that it was Hizashi who threw the kunai, he would have suspected that there were highly skilled hidden weapon masters lying in ambush nearby.
Such skillful techniques indicate that he has already reached the threshold of becoming a Jonin.

"It's all thanks to Grandpa Yin's excellent teaching."

Uh... So it's Gintoki?

As Hyuga Tenkiyo was secretly speculating, upon hearing the familiar name from his grandson, the serious expression on his face instantly vanished, replaced by a wicked smile.
Looking at his son, whose face was ashen, he smiled and said,

"Ritian, from now on you are only allowed to defend. Let Rizu perform to his heart's content. I want to test the results of their recent training with Gintoki."

"Yes, father."

Hyuga Hiten still wore that icy, aloof expression, but upon hearing Uchiha Gin's name, his face and the corners of his eyes twitched noticeably, clearly recalling some unpleasant experiences.

"You two can do whatever you want. If I move even an inch, I'll consider it a loss."

Looking up at his two eager sons, Hyuga Hiten nodded slightly.

"And you, once you've used up all your hidden weapons, you'll lose."

He wants to prove with his actions that the Uchiha's throwing techniques are garbage!

That curly-haired bastard teaches the absolute worst of trash!

"Are you being that serious?"

Looking at his son, who had suddenly become serious, with considerable surprise, Hyuga Tenki raised an eyebrow.

"This isn't like you."

"They are about to become real ninjas, so they can no longer play around with their training like before."

Upon hearing this answer, Hyuga Tenki nodded with a look of realization, and then made a suggestion.
"I see. Since it's a competition, we should have something extra, right?"

Seeing that Hyuga Hiten didn't speak, Hyuga Tenki took it as acquiescence to his suggestion, and then turned to look at his two grandsons.
"Would you like to bet something?"

The Hyuga brothers exchanged a glance, hesitated for a long time, and then Hiashi cautiously spoke first.
"If we can get Father to move, could you please return the novel that was confiscated from us before?"

"novel?"

Seeing his father's slightly furrowed brow, Hizashi mustered his courage and added,
"We borrowed it from a classmate."

"So that dirty novel belonged to your classmate!"

Upon hearing this, Hyuga Hiten's eyes narrowed, his sharp gaze making the two brothers, who knew they were in the wrong, feel as if they were sitting on pins and needles.
"."

But while the two brothers felt ashamed, they were even more curious about how their father knew the contents of that novel. The first half of it was mostly cheesy romance, and it only started getting more explicit halfway through.
"Perfect! If you lose, call the parent of the student who borrowed your novel over here. I'm going to give him a good scolding!"

"Isn't this not good?"

The Hyuga brothers frowned upon hearing this.
Fugaku's parents,
Isn't it just Grandpa Silver?
"Hmph! Enough talk, let's begin!"

Seeing that his two sons were still trying to bargain, Hyuga Hiten coldly waved his hand and announced the official start of the competition.
Knowing there was no turning back, and not wanting their mistakes to implicate others, the Hyuga brothers decided to unleash the skills they had honed on the training dummies.
"Then... please be careful, Father."

The next moment, the black rain reflected in Hinata Hiten's pure white pupils, and the boundless shadow covered the deep horror in his indifferent eyes.

"Fugaku, here's your book back."

The next day, during recess, the nervous Hyuga brothers lured Fugaku to a secluded corner of the school and secretly slipped him a novel with obviously curled edges.

"Didn't you say the book was lost?"

Carefully tucking the collector's edition novel into his robes, Fugaku looked at the Hyuga brothers, whose expressions were weary and listless, with a puzzled expression.
Did those two guys take his book and fly around all night last night?

Ugh! I must disinfect myself thoroughly when I get back!
"Found it again."

Looking tired, Hiashi nodded, quietly hiding his sore hands behind his back.

"That's it"

Fugaku, who saw through it but didn't say anything, nodded. His gaze suddenly stopped on Hizashi's bandaged fingers, his eyes filled with astonishment and admiration.

Is this what they call "bruising the skin raw"?
"Are you going to Grandpa Yin's place to train after school today?"

As a close friend, Fugaku chose to keep this shocking secret to himself, then skipped over the topic and changed the subject to the matter of training.

"I feel there's still room for improvement in my pitching skills."

Strikes a cool throwing pose, Fugaku says confidently. He's been honing his basic throwing skills with training dummies lately, making significant progress every day.
"Go!" *2
Without the slightest hesitation, the Hyuga brothers nodded firmly, their white eyes burning with a visible fighting spirit.

See you after dinner!

At the same time, Uchiha Gin, who had just received the mission order from Hiruzen Sarutobi, ran into an acquaintance on his way downstairs, and the two happened to see each other.
The person opposite probably didn't expect to see Uchiha Gin here either. His white eyes widened slightly in surprise, and his expression instantly turned cold.

"Yo~ Ritian's nephew!"

Seeing Hyuga Hiden instantly transform from a blank-faced expression to a stern one, Uchiha Gin wasn't angered by his impolite change in expression. Instead, he smiled and raised his hand in greeting.

"When we are out in public, please address me as the Hyuga clan leader."

Hyuga Hyuga wished he could turn around and leave right then and there, but the decorum of his noble family told him he couldn't.
"Honestly, she was so cute when she was little, how did she turn out like this when she grew up?"

Shaking his head with a sigh, Uchiha Gin's eyes were filled with nostalgia. He still preferred that snotty-nosed, drooling little boy who followed him around begging for candy.

Don't let Hinata's current angular features fool you; when he was little, he had a round, chubby face just like his granddaughter Hanabi, so soft and bouncy to the touch.

"If there's nothing else, please step aside. I have something to report to the Hokage."

"Can't I just chat with you for a bit? No wonder Tianyao kept saying you were under a lot of pressure. It turns out you're too serious about things. Don't bring this kind of emotion to the children; it's not good for their development."

Hyuga Hiten, who was about to take a step, paused, turned his head to look at the nagging Uchiha Gin, a complex emotion in his white eyes. His seriousness was only directed at one person.
"My son, thank you for your care."

After saying this abrupt and unrelated sentence, Hyuga Hiten walked away without looking back.

Watching the other person's aloof back, Uchiha Gin scratched his head.

Although he had some doubts, he didn't delve into them, because he hadn't outsourced his current task yet.
It was the same old spot, a secluded corner of the training ground. When Uchiha Gin, carrying the mission sheet, sauntered in, Fugaku and the others, who had been waiting there for a long time, scattered in all directions.

"Where's the mission? Where's the mission?!"

The group stared intently at Uchiha Gin, their eyes filled with anticipation, especially the Hyuga brothers, whose gazes were brimming with a kind of fanatical admiration.

"Here it is, same old rule, the sooner you finish, the sooner you can start training."

Gin Uchiha casually handed the mission sheet to Fugaku, then sat down on a resting spot next to the training ground, yawning, and took out a lollipop he always carried with him, leisurely enjoying it.
"Idiot Rope Tree, you're not very bright, so the heavy lifting is your responsibility."

"Say that again, you fucking idiot?"

"Um, you're strong, it's a bit of a waste of your talents to do tasks that require a lot of brainpower."

"That's more like it, leave it to me!"

Looking at the few kids there, who were assigning tasks in an orderly manner, Uchiha Gin's eyes were full of pride.

With this group of free, fresh chives, he could not only sit back and earn money effortlessly, but also improve his proficiency with training dummies—a win-win situation, getting both food and profit.

After sucking on the strawberry-flavored lollipop, Uchiha Gin, with his eyes half-closed, gently shook his head.

But nothing is perfect. The reward for the mission he accepted was a bit low; after all, it was a D-level mission, and the maximum reward was limited.

Another issue is the training dummies; the upgrade progress is painfully slow.

He took out a miniature dummy from his spatial backpack, his slightly helpless gaze sweeping over the information.

[Training Dummy: An indestructible target; using it for training will yield unexpected and amazing results. (Upgrade Progress: 9/99999)]

I spent a month or so grinding with the five Fugaku members, and this dummy's progress has only increased by a few points. When will it ever level up?
After a period of testing, Uchiha Gin finally figured out the mechanism of training dummies.

If it's a skill you haven't mastered yet, training with dummies can quickly improve your proficiency, and the feedback to the dummies will also accelerate their level-up process.

However, for basic skills like throwing concealed weapons, which have already been mastered, the dummy's ability to improve proficiency is much slower.

Even so, the pace of progress is incredibly fast.
The Hyuga brothers, who were particularly diligent, managed to improve their basic throwing skills from rookies in the ninja academy to near-jonin level in just a few months, while simultaneously providing 3 upgrade points for the dummy.
However, after that, the rate at which the two improved their basic throwing skills slowed down dramatically, with no progress whatsoever in the past week, suggesting they had reached some kind of bottleneck.

In response, Uchiha Gin suggested that the two switch to a different exercise and stop focusing on basic throwing techniques, since throwing projectiles wouldn't break Susanoo.

"Should we get some more chives?"

Gin Uchiha began to scheme, thoughtfully examining the training dummy in his hands.

"Grandpa Silver." *2
Suddenly, two voices interrupted his thoughts. He lifted his eyelids and looked at the slightly tired Hyuga brothers in front of him.
"You two."

Sensing the emptiness within the two brothers, Uchiha Gin frowned sharply, his expression turning extremely serious.
"You need to be careful and moderate!"

As he spoke, he pointed to the bewildered Japanese man and earnestly advised him to quit masturbating.

"Especially Japanese players, please don't ruin your health, what if you can't have a daughter in the future!"

In other words, it was Hiashi. If it were Fugaku, he would have loved for that kid to be reduced to ashes, and to have his filial son, who had tormented him in the backyard for years, slammed against the wall. (End of Chapter)